Taking Students on a Strengths Safari: A Multidimensional Pilot Study of School-Based Wellbeing for Young Neurodiverse Children

Lauren H. Naples and Elizabeth D. Tuckwiller
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Lauren H. Naples: Child Study Center, Yale School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, USA
Elizabeth D. Tuckwiller: Department of Special Education and Disability Studies, Graduate School of Education and Human Development, Foggy Bottom Campus, The George Washington University, Washington, DC 20052, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 13, 1-27

Abstract: There is a robust body of psychological research linking youth mental health and academic achievement. However, students in early childhood are rarely represented in this research, and children with disabilities and/or neurological differences are virtually absent. Thus, the present pilot study explored the effects of a structured psychoeducation program designed to enhance school-based wellbeing (SBWB) for young students who are neurodivergent (ND). This study utilized a quasi-experimental design to investigate the effects of the Student Strengths Safari intervention on (1) students’ self-reported covitality and (2) teacher-rated executive functioning to (3) examine data for evidence of a dual-factor model of SBWB. Two classrooms in a suburban, Mid-Atlantic private school were randomly assigned to the waitlist control group ( n = 14) (1st grade) and the intervention group ( n = 10) (2nd grade), and quantitative data were analyzed at pretest and posttest to determine intervention outcomes. Key findings produced evidence to support (a) a statistically significant interaction effect for improvements in executive functioning relative to the waitlist control group ( p = 0.011), and (b) the utility of a new theoretical dual-factor model to advance SBWB for ND students in early elementary education.

Keywords: wellbeing; covitality; mental health; character strengths; social and emotional learning (SEL); executive functioning; neurodiversity; disability; psychoeducation; intervention (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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